A Russian citizen and two Bulgarians were charged with violating U.S. export controls after they used a Bulgarian company to illegally ship controlled items to Russia, the Department of Justice said Dec. 18. Russian national Ilias Sabirov and Bulgarian nationals Dimitar Dimitrov and Milan Dimitrov used Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to export the items, which included various electronic components. All three men were added to the Entity List last week (see 2012180039).
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to officially release the first tranche of its military end-user list (see 2012080046) Dec. 22, naming 103 companies that require licenses to receive certain U.S. exports, reexports or transfers. The first tranche will include 58 Chinese and 45 Russian companies that represent an “unacceptable risk of use in or diversion to” a military end-use or military end-user in China, Russia or Venezuela, the Commerce Department said Dec. 21.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 77 entities and people to the Entity List, including China’s top chipmaker, to further prevent China and other countries from acquiring sensitive U.S. technologies, the agency said Dec. 18. Along with China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, the Entity List additions include China-based DJI, one of the world’s largest drone makers, and companies in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Malta, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
The European Union renewed sanctions against Russia for six months, until July 31, 2021, the European Council said Dec. 17. The sanctions target people and entities for Russian interference in Ukraine and include a ban on sending dual-use goods for military end-users or for end-uses in Russia.
The U.S. announced sanctions on Turkey for buying Russian missile defense systems, saying Dec. 14 the purchases provide “substantial funds” to Russia’s defense sector and harm U.S. national security. The sanctions target Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) and several SSB officials, including SSB President Ismail Demir, Vice President Faruk Yigit, and air defense officials Serhat Gencoglu and Mustafa Alper Deniz.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added 11 entries under its global human rights sanctions regime, it said Dec. 10. The designations target 11 politicians, officials and other human rights violators in Russia, Venezuela, The Gambia and Pakistan, it said. This is the third time the U.K. has imposed sanctions under its human rights regime since launching it in July (see 2007060025).
The Treasury Department sanctioned 20 people and entities and the State Department sanctioned 17 people for human rights violations, the agencies said Dec. 10. Treasury’s sanctions target government and military officials in Haiti, Yemen and Russia, six Russian companies and other people in Russia associated with Ramzan Kadyrov, the sanctioned head of the Chechen Republic. The State Department’s sanctions target 17 foreign government officials in El Salvador, Jamaica and China, including Chief Huang Yuanxiong of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau Wucun Police Station. The agency’s sanctions also target the officials’ immediate family members.
The Senate voted Dec. 9 to reject bipartisan resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates. The resolutions, introduced by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., were struck down 46-50 and 47-49. The trio had tried to garner bipartisan support over the past month, saying the sales of billions of dollars worth of F-35 fighter jets, drones and military equipment could harm U.S. national security (see 2012070022). Speaking before the votes, Menendez said the sales deserved more “careful and deliberate consideration within” the administration. “We are being asked to support a significant transfer of advanced U.S. technology, without clarity on a number of key details regarding the sale, or sufficient answers to critical national security questions,” he said. “There are simply too many outstanding questions.”
The Commerce Department will not publish its long-awaited proposed regulations on routed export transactions (see 2007150044) this year and is experiencing delays on other rules, including another set of export controls from the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement, a Commerce official said. Hillary Hess, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s regulatory policy director, cited a combination of internal BIS delays and a backlog at the Federal Register for the slowdown.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 7 (some may also be given separate headlines):